ALUMNI STORIES
TAKING ON THE PANDEMIC THROUGH THE LIBERAL ARTS
Chemistry grads employ array of skills learned at Monmouth By Barry McNamara
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n St. Louis, four Monmouth College alumni are part of a team at an international company that is fighting COVID-19.
future scenarios. Here’s how much material we need. Here’s how much each site can produce. Here’s what our customer needs. If there’s a gap, how do we close that gap?’” Coming up with those answers is more complex than a simple formula or consulting a slide rule. White said he constantly Gianna Scumaci Connolly ’12, Jennifer Scott Hazer ’08, draws on skills he sharpened at Monmouth. Michelle Tank ’11 and Corey White ’07 all work at MilliporeSigma “I don’t necessarily use the science that I studied at Mon(formerly Sigma-Aldrich), a global life science and technology mouth,” said White, who majored in biochemistry and chemistry company that provides tools, services and digital platforms that and was a production chemist at Sigma-Aldrich before making empower scientists and engineers. a course change that led to his current position. “What I do use “Our company has played a large role in the fight against is the problem-solving skills I learned at COVID-19 as a Monmouth.” critical raw ma“I don’t necessarily use the science White said he is grateful he experienced terial supplier that I studied at Monmouth. What the hard science part of the company before for diagnostic making the decision that “I wanted to mantesting, vaccine I do use is the problem-solving age people.” manufacturing skills I learned at Monmouth.” “I have a better understanding of all and therapeutic aspects of the company because I see the treatments,” COREY WHITE ’07 day-to-day questions from our customers, said White. White noted and I also have an understanding of what that MilliporeSigma’s sites are particularly accelerating the prohappens on the manufacturing side,” he said. “Being able to probduction of lipids, a key part of the COVID vaccine. lem solve is something I’m able to do because of my liberal arts “Our sites are impacting the detection of and resolution to this education. To me, that’s the benefit of the kind of education that global pandemic,” he said. Monmouth offers. It opens up so many doors for you.” Even before there was a virus to eradicate, White was proud of Hazer, who serves as a biologics operational excellence manthe work his company does. ager, said her liberal arts education was “an integral part of my “To me, that’s the most rewarding part of being in this field,” career success at MilliporeSigma.” said White, who was the first of the four Monmouth alumni to “Over time, I found myself becoming more than a chemist,” join the company, fresh out of college. “You see a commercial for said Hazer, who was a chemistry and mathematics major. “I a pharmaceutical on TV, and you’re able to say, ‘My day-to-day was becoming an employee who needed skills in engineering, work is changing people’s lives.’” White serves as MilliporeSigma’s head of production “It was not just the chemistry planning in St. Louis. He’s used to working months ahead on his company’s manufacturing needs, and the pandemic has courses that allowed me to get factored into that planning in a major way. to where I am today. It was … the “We’re always working six to 12 months ahead,” he said. “In small lessons from each professor.” the last two months of 2019 and the beginning of 2020, we started to see changes in the supply chain from China. We JENNIFER SCOTT HAZER ’08 had to start thinking about ‘What is the impact downstream?’ That’s a huge part of what I do. We’re constantly looking at
MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE
